Trade-in Value — If you go to a dealer to trade in your car, they will offer you trade-in value, as opposed to the retail value. Car buyers will do this because it takes the hassle out of selling your car on your own.

For example, let’s say you have a ’99 Toyota Camry to trade in. The trade-in value (at the time of writing this article) for this car in excellent condition on Kelly Blue Book is $6,225. This is $3025 less than the suggested retail price for this car.

You may think “well that’s unfair” or “they are robbing me,” but it also has a flip-side. What does it cost to sell a car on your own?

There are advertising fees, and you might also have it detailed so it looks nice to potential buyers like a dealer car does. The transfer of ownership takes time and know-how, and it might also take a lot of time to do all of this, as well as show it and sell it to potential buyers.

I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t sell it on your own; it is just sometimes an advantage to trade it in, especially if you have an unpopular vehicle that is difficult to sell. Sometimes cars can take weeks, even months to sell, and in that instance trading it in might be a last resort. That is why dealers offer the lower trade-in price.